What To Eat, II
20-Oct-08
If you recall (probably not), I first wrote about What To Eat, by Marion Nestle, back in May. It is October, and I’ve finally finished the book. This is no joke or exaggeration, my friends. I really did mean to write my way through the book but life happens, right?
In short, I highly recommend reading this book. Besides being chock full of interesting facts about the food industry, Nestle does a good job of sorting through the nutritional hype and paranoia. In the section on produce, Nestle discusses the meaning of organic, the price of produce, and genetically modified or irradiated produce. In this section, Nestle lists her priorities as:
1. organic and locally grown
2. organic
3. conventional and locally grown
4. conventional
For me, number 2 and 3 have flipped. It wasn’t always that way but with an eye on my wallet, locally grown tends to be cheaper, and conventional is not necessarily the boogeyman that everyone makes it out to be. Locally grown, in general, is better for the environment and the economy. What’s the point of organic fresh pineapple if it has to fly over 3000 miles to get to my supermarket?
When I first picked up the book, my neurosis over organic versus non-organic, local versus non-local was a peak. I worried the book would excerbate this condition but in fact, it’s had the opposite effect. Nestle basically says “Eh. If it makes you happy, it can’t hurt but keep it in perspective.” She also saves her indigination for the issues that really matter to her, like industry deception of the consumer instead of attacking every single little thing.